


Thou shalt not covet

by thegirl20



Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-02
Updated: 2013-02-02
Packaged: 2017-11-27 21:42:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/666804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegirl20/pseuds/thegirl20
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eve feels guilty after 'Path of Vengeance'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thou shalt not covet

Eve paced the floor of the hut. Every so often she would stop and look out of the window, flinching every time she heard a gasp of pain or an exclamation. She glanced over at the bed where her mother was tending to Gabrielle’s injuries. A wave of guilt washed over Eve and she silently prayed to Eli for the strength to overcome the feelings she was currently being bombarded with.  
  
“Eve!”  
  
She jumped at the unexpected shout. She turned to face her mother.  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“You haven’t stopped pacing since we came in here. Sit down, everything’s OK now.”   
  
Xena turned back to applying a salve to Gabrielle’s lip. Eve sat on the edge of a chair, wringing her hands nervously. Gabrielle watched Eve’s behaviour with concern.  
  
“Honey, is something wrong? Are you worried that Varia won’t honour her word?”  
  
Eve felt her face grow hot at the mention of Varia’s name and dipped her head to hide the flush of her cheeks. A hand touched her shoulder and she looked up into her mother’s compassionate eyes.   
  
“Eve, I know you probably feel guilty about what happened today, but you shouldn’t. Gabrielle did what she did because she loves you and she wanted to protect you.”  
  
Eve covered her face with her hands and groaned. Xena looked over at Gabrielle quizzically. Gabrielle shrugged. Xena motioned with her head towards Eve. Gabrielle shook her head and pointed at Xena, then at Eve. Xena shrugged in a gesture of hopelessness. Gabrielle rolled her eyes and got off the bed, wincing at the pain in several parts of her body. She approached Eve and gingerly kneeled down in front of her.  
  
“Sweetie, I know you don’t like violence, neither do I. But sometimes it’s the only way. Xena’s right, you have no need to feel guilty, today was completely my choice and I would do it again in a heartbeat.”  
  
Eve took her hands away from her face and looked at Gabrielle. She reached out and gently touched the swelling around her eye.  
  
“I do feel guilty. But it’s not just the fact that you got hurt,” she whispered.  
  
“Then what is it, you know you can tell us,” Xena encouraged her.  
  
Eve looked down at her knees and played with the edge of her shawl.   
  
“Today, when I was watching the fight…I was watching Varia, how she moved, how she fought…and I felt stirrings.”  
  
Gabrielle and Xena stared at her silently until Gabrielle nudged Xena.  
  
“Listen, Eve, it’s perfectly understandable to think about your old way of life. It can be difficult to move on and…”  
  
Eve shook her head.  
  
“It wasn’t even that. I had no desire to take part in the violence or to return to that way. But I had these feelings of…”  
  
Gabrielle’s lips quirked into a smile, Xena remained confused.  
  
“I’m not sure I understand what you’re talking about.”  
  
“Xena, I don’t think it was bloodlust. I think it was plain old lust. She’s got the hots for Varia.”  
  
“What? Are you crazy? It’s not that.” Xena scoffed, turning to Eve to have her confirm this.  
  
Unfortunately Eve couldn’t reassure her mother. She bowed her head in shame as Xena stared at her incredulously.  
  
“Are you telling me, that while you were watching Gabrielle get beaten to a pulp earlier today, you were turned on by it?” Xena stood up and took a few steps backwards.  
  
“I don’t think ‘beaten to a pulp’ is quite the right description.” Gabrielle muttered.  
  
“Not by that part, not the Gabrielle getting beaten up part…but watching Varia...”  
  
“I do not want to hear this!” Xena interrupted loudly, stopping short of covering her ears.   
  
“I’m not proud of it, mother!”   
  
“I should hope not! I mean, I can’t comprehend this. Gabrielle is your family, your kin. You watch Varia pound her into submission…”  
  
“Again, I think we’re exaggerating.” Gabrielle huffed.  
  
“…on your behalf, I might add, and all you can think about is how hot she looks in her little Amazon bikini? I cannot understand this!”  
  
“ _I_  can.” Gabrielle said quietly.  
  
Both Eve and Xena looked at her, Xena in shock, Eve in gratitude.  
  
“Please tell me you’re kidding.” Xena begged.  
  
“Xena, I’ve spent a lot of time watching you fight…it’s not all that surprising that I find it a little bit attractive, is it?”  
  
“Yes!”  
  
“No, it’s not. There’s display of strength and skill, showing off of body parts…are you going to tell me that when Ares is at the head of an army, flexing his biceps and waving his phallic symbol around you’re not the least bit interested.”  
  
Both Xena and Eve shifted uncomfortably.  
  
“I’m just saying that it’s OK to be attracted to a fighter, even when you’re opposed to violence. During my pacifist phase, I still got a kick out of watching you in battle. And you know that when either of us has been fighting we always…uh… “  
  
“And now it’s my turn to object to hearing any more details.” Eve said, pointedly.  
  
“That’s completely different.” Xena said, avoiding Eve’s gaze.  
  
“How is it different Xena?”  
  
“Because I’ve never watched Ares beat the tar out of you and been turned on by it.”  
  
“She didn’t beat the tar out of me!” Gabrielle shouted.  
  
Twin raised eyebrows were her only answer and she sighed in frustration.  
  
“Whatever. Eve, if you like Varia and you’d like to pursue something I say go ahead.”  
  
“Well I don’t!” Xena put in vehemently.  
  
“Why not?”  
  
“She’s…she’s far too young to be thinking about relationships.”  
  
“Mother, I’m twenty-five.”  
  
“Which is much older than I was when I ran away with you.” Gabrielle put in.  
  
“And you were far too young to be doing that!”  
  
“Didn’t stop me though, did it? And it didn’t stop you from letting me.”  
  
“Like I had a choice. I  _tried_  to send you back but you wouldn’t go. You kept following me around making those big puppy eyes.”  
  
“If only the world knew that Xena: Warrior Princess is helpless in the face of ‘puppy eyes’.”  
  
Xena drew Gabrielle a very withering look before turning to Eve.  
  
“Look, Eve, I can’t say that I like the thought of what happened this afternoon being attractive to you, but that may be a biased view. So…if you want to go and…and…”  
  
“That’s another thing…I’m not all that sure where Eli stands on his messenger…having relations.”  
  
“Well, sweetie, you’re hardly a blushing virgin, are you?” Gabrielle reminded her, delicately.   
  
“No. But since I found Eli, I haven’t…with anyone.”  
  
“I can confirm to you that Eli definitely wasn’t without feelings of a certain nature. He had a big ol’ yen on for Gabrielle here.”   
  
“Really?” Eve asked, hopefully.  
  
“No, he didn’t.”  
  
“Yes, he did, he totally wanted you. He was just too scared of me to do anything about it.”  
  
“Now Xena, remember what happened the last time you angered him. D’you want another bolt of light to come down and strip you of something? Next time it might be something more painful than your ability to kill Gods.”  
  
Xena looked upwards, warily.  
  
“So, you think that it would be acceptable for me to have a relationship?” Eve directed her question to Gabrielle.  
  
“I don’t see why not,” Gabrielle said. “After India I was a bit religious for a while…”  
  
*cough* “Zealot.” *cough* Xena said into her hand. Gabrielle ignored her.  
  
“But that didn’t stop me and your mother from…”  
  
“Please don’t finish that sentence.” Eve said, holding her hand up.  
  
“So, I say you go and see what Varia has to say about all of this.”  
  
Eve stood up and squeezed Gabrielle’s arm in thanks. Gabrielle tried very hard not to wince in pain. Eve walked out of the hut without looking at her mother. Gabrielle limped back to the bed and lay down with a sigh. Xena returned to tend to the numerous wounds on her body. She was somewhat less gentle than she had been before Eve’s revelation. After a few minutes of strained silence, Xena spoke up.  
  
“ _'Go and see what Varia has to say about all of this'_ ” she mocked. “Varia doesn’t seem like much of a talker to me. More of a doer. She’ll be over there now, _doing_ my daughter.”  
  
“Listen to Ms. Talkative here.”  
  
“Are you comparing me to her?”  
  
“Yes. In fact, they’re both a bit like you. Doesn’t bode well for campfire conversations.”  
  
“Hey, I talk!”  
  
“When forced.”  
  
“Aren’t you supposed to be recovering from your injuries?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Well, recovery happens faster in silence.”  
  
“Hmph.”  
  
Silence once again descended over the hut.


End file.
